Cherry Almond Smoothie

It doesn't matter how many Texas summers I live through, I just can't get used to the heat.  I have English skin, it wasn't meant to see sunlight!  This summer I have been really enjoying smoothies in the mornings, because when you wake up to almost 90 degree temps a hot bowl of oatmeal just does not appeal.  I have made many smoothie variations but my favourite and the one I always want is this cherry almond smoothie.

1 cup frozen dark sweet cherries
1/2 cup greek yogurt
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp brown sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp almond extract

In a blender add the milk, yogurt, sugar, extracts and cherries.  Blend well and serve immediately. 

Menu Plan Monday

 

Monday: Pork curry, jasmine rice and naan bread

Tuesday: Breakfast - bacon, eggs, mushrooms, tomatoes and toast

Wednesday: Pizza

Thursday: Somerset pork, mashed potatoes and green beans

Friday: Driving to Tulsa, so whatever we stop for on the way
  
See other menu plans over at Organizing Junkie

Menu Plan Monday

 

Monday: Hot dogs, corn on the cob and coleslaw

Tuesday:  Chicken tikka, jasmine rice

Wednesday: Ribs, corn bread, corn on the cob

Thursday: Spag bol and salad

Friday: Eating out
  
See other menu plans over at Organizing Junkie

SRC - Italian Summer Salad

Time for another Secret Recipe Club reveal!  I love getting my blog assignment each month and this month I was assigned the blog  Miz Helen's Country Cottage.  I was so thrilled to be assigned Helen's blog.  I have been reading her blog for a long time now, have contributed to her full plate Thursday link ups and she always leaves sweet comments every reveal day.  

As always my first stop was the dessert recipes and it didn't take me long to decide on the lemon cheesecake.  I sent Randal the link and fully expecting my sugar addict husband to be all for it and I was truly stunned that his response was "looks great, but how about this Italian summer salad".  I think I read his email 3 times just to make sure my husband was suggesting a salad over a cheesecake!  He has decided to try and eat more healthy and I want to support that idea.

Because it is just the two of us and the recipe makes quite a lot, I decided to halve the entire recipe.  It still made a lot and we had it several times over a few days.   It has a fresh and vibrant taste with lots and lots of vegetables, although I did leave out the yellow squash and olives.   We enjoyed it very much!

Salad: 

8 oz pasta, any variety

1 cup cherry tomatoes

1/2 English cucumber, chopped

1 courgette, chopped

1/2 red bell pepper, chopped

1/2 green bell pepper, chopped

1/2 red onion, chopped

1 cup mozzarella cheese, chopped

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

Dressing:

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

1 tbsp dried basil
3/4 tsp dried oregano

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1 tbsp  sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

 

To make the dressing,  combine the olive oil, vinegar and spices in a small bowl.  Whisk to combine and set aside.

In a large bowl, add the chopped vegetables and the 1/2 teaspoon of salt and pepper.  Pour the dressing over the vegetables and set aside.

Cook the pasta according to package directions, drain and let cool.

Combine the cooled pasta with the vegetables, add in the mozzarella cheese, mix together and refrigerate for 2 hours before serving.

An InLinkz Link-up

Menu Plan Monday

 

Monday: Tacos

Tuesday: BLT's and tomato soup

Wednesday: Mango chicken stir fry

Thursday: Spag bol and salad

Friday: Eating out
  
See other menu plans over at Organizing Junkie

Menu Plan Monday

 

I am so late in posting our menu plan this week, but it has just been a crazy few days for us.  Last Thursday night we found out that Randal's dad had collapsed at home and was in very bad shape in hospital, so we just packed up the car and drove all night to Tulsa.  We finally got back home at 2am Tuesday morning after days of hospital visits and trying to find a nursing center to move him to, not to mention trying to organise the sale of his business.  We also brought back a new member of the family, my father in laws dog who he can no longer care for, so meals and meal planning has been the last thing on our minds recently, but it is back to our routine so this is what we have for this week.

Monday: Fast food on the way home from Tulsa

Tuesday: We grabbed bbq from Rudy's

Wednesday: Mexican stuffed shells with salad (didn't make this last week)

Thursday: Patty melts, fries

Friday: Eating out
  
See other menu plans over at Organizing Junkie

Buttermilk White Bread

I had a lot of buttermilk leftover from baking cupcakes last weekend, I usually have good intentions of using it but most of the time it just sits in the fridge until it goes bad, but this time I had so much of it left that I was determined to use it.  The first thing I thought of was making some home made bread as we had planned on having bacon sandwiches for dinner anyway.  I did a quick search and found this buttermilk bread recipe from Blissful and Domestic.  It looked really good, the dough was made in the bread machine which is always a plus when I have little kids running around wanting all my attention, and I had everything on hand to make it.  It did bake up as very soft bread so I was a little concerned about that, but in the end we both enjoyed it and used it for our sandwiches.

1/3 cup Water

1 cup buttermilk

2 tbsp of butter

1 1/2 tsp salt

4 tbsp brown sugar

3 cups flour

2 1/4 tsp yeast

2 tbsp vital wheat gluten 

Place ingredients in the bread machine in the order listed.  Select dough setting, mine took 1 hour and 20 minutes.

When the dough cycle has finished, turn out dough onto floured surface, knead by hand for a minute just to smooth out the dough and form it to fit a greased loaf pan.  Cover and leave to rise until doubled in size, about 45 minutes.

Bake at 350 for 30 minutes, until golden brown.  Brush with melted butter as soon as it comes out of the oven.